Charlie Haden - bass; Gonzalo Rubalcaba - piano, arranger; Ignacio Berroa - drums; David Sanchez - tenor saxophone; Federico Britos Ruiz - violin.

Charlie Haden's latest project: Cuban love songs with a jazz feel, but light and melodic--not as repetitive as most "Latin Jazz." Haden appeared in the role of sponsor and ensemble bassist with pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba assuming the lead. Rubalcaba contributed the arrangements and the most evolved solos.

Tempos were mostly slow, but they varied from tune to tune. That they did not drag was largely due to Ignacio Berroa's masterly brushes on snares. Violinist Federico Britos Ruiz favored high harmonics and ahead-of-the-beat accenting. He was controlled (though not unemotional) and leaned toward melodic variation (not improvisation)--he played with a traditional Cuban feel. Britos Ruiz and Rubalcaba combined for a lovely conversation on "El Ciego."

"Transparence," the most advanced piece of the evening, featured Sanchez. For this concert he altered his approach to get a "legitimate" sound (without his usual vibrato) and came off as competent but not personally involved. Rubalcaba took a short solo with a nod in the direction of Keith Jarrett spirituality.

Rubalcaba lifted the mandatory "Tres Palabras" with his superb rhythmic accents and some Bill Evans-voiced accompanying. Sanchez cut loose with a funky back beat solo. Violin and tenor alternated on most tunes, but they both played on the encore "Contigo en la Distancia" (I think), a bolero with hints of "Feelings" and "What a Difference a Day Made." The piece included Haden's only solo and a three-way dialog between violin, tenor, and piano.

Charlie Haden sites: http://www.ejn.it/mus/haden.htm, http://interjazz.com/haden/

Nancy Marano Trio, August 8, 2001

Nancy Marano - vocals, piano; Mike Abene - piano; John Mosca - trombone.

I first heard Nancy Marano about ten years ago on a couple of groovy duet records with accordionist Eddie Monteiro. She has continued to sing in not-your-garden-variety settings including with her current trio. Her repertoire sparkles with happening tunes like "The Only Music," "Nothing Like You," and "You're Nearer." I consider myself a Bill Evans admirer, but I had never heard his "In April" before she sang it. Maybe her most striking quality is her unexpected intervals (tonal distance between one note and another). The listener is disoriented for a split second until the subsequent (third) note reveals the logic and beauty of the interval.

John Mosca, who made his name as lead trombonist in the Thad Jones - Mel Lewis Orchestra, played the trombone counterline from Gordon Jenkins' "Goodbye" arrangement (Sinatra's Only the Lonely) behind Marano in "Never Let Me Go." "It Never Entered My Mind" (with verse) featured a thoughtful, apt Mosca solo, several modulations, and an effective, ambiguous ending. She took "So In Love" over a Coltrane-like Latin vamp and finished scatting in unison with Mosca. Marano accompanied herself on piano (She knows what she's doing.) on Johnny Mandel's "The Shining Sea" and "Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams" where she mixed scat and lyrics.

Best known as a writer, Mike Abene showed himself as a brilliant, in-the-moment accompanist and soloist.

Nancy Marano site: http://www.showgigs.com/nancymarano/

The Mancini Institute Chamber Ensembles, August 16, 2001

The Mancini Institute summer program brings teen-aged music students to UCLA to study with professional jazz and studio musicians. Teachers and students combine to put on nightly concerts over the three weeks they are here. This year Bob Brookmeyer, Terence Blanchard, Flora Purim, Bertram Turetzsky, Jerry Goldsmith, and many others participated in the program.

A concert of chamber jazz presented music by four groups. San Francisco violinist Jeremy Cohen led a nine-piece (six strings plus rhythm) ensemble in brief versions of Mancini's "Pink Panther" theme and Brubeck's "Blue Rondo a la Turk." Cohen's arrangements recalled the originals, but his voicings and witty variations gave the pieces their own allure. Lesa Terry, violinist with the Uptown String Quartet, chose a Cuban (including Charanga, Danzon, and Montuno) repertoire for her nine strings and rhythm with extra percussion. She went for a hypnotic rhythmic feel and voiced the strings in unison--something like the Soulful Strings from the 70's. Best known for his work with the band Oregon, Paul McCandless led 11 pieces (reeds, French horns, and rhythm) in two compositions of depth and beauty. A somber "Sarabande" featured a bass clarinet duet. McCandless switched to oboe for "All the Mornings Bring," originally written for the Paul Winter Consort (Icarus, Epic). After an old-time, elusive, Alec Wilder Octet-flavored opening the piece established itself in an odd meter. Flavored by modal harmony, punctuated by French horn riffs, and powered by modern rhythms the piece was both pensive and swinging.

Pianist Billy Childs is at home in this genre--one of his regular working bands is a chamber jazz sextet with harp, guitar, and alto sax. For this concert he put his trio in bold relief and surrounded it with five woodwinds voiced to sound like ten. "View of the City," blues related and composed for this concert, featured bassist Christian McBride in two brilliantly conceived and unrelentingly swinging solos. Childs and drummer Steve Houghton (a wonderful trio drummer with his own lightly singing cymbal sound) also chimed in with some telling choruses.

Henry Mancini Institute site: http://www.amjazzphil.org/hmi.html
Paul McCandless site: http://www.paulmccandless.com/
Billy Childs site: http://www.jazzcorner.com/childs/
Christian McBride site: http://www.christianmcbride.com/

Bobby Watson Sextet, August 23, 2001

Bobby Watson - alto; Robert Stewart - tenor; Richard Grant - trumpet; Danny Grussett - piano; Jeff Littleton - bass; Don Littleton - drums.

Last year Bobby Watson assumed leadership of the jazz program at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Part of his role is to spread the word at venues such as the L.A. Museum of Contemporary Art where he puts on yearly concerts.

The evening began with John Coltrane in mind. Watson took a many-noted solo over a stop-time background on "Quiet As It's Kept." He played a long, high energy unaccompanied intro on the next piece, the theme of which derived from both "Moment's Notice" and "Giant Steps." Watson introduced Robert Stewart who performed a spiritual in the genre of Coltrane's "Alabama".

From here on the concert assumed something of a Jazz at the Philharmonic flavor. Stewart's next tune recalled 1949 R & B with a rib joint tenor sound. When Watson came back he seemed preoccupied with technical displays, particularly during his exchanges with the other horns. Trumpeter Richard Grant did not seem comfortable in this setting. To his credit he did not indulge in histrionics. His best playing was in the breaks during the concluding "Cherokee."

Bobby Watson site: http://www.bobbywatson.com/
Bobby Watson Interview at AAJ

Tom Garvin Trio, August 26, 2001

Tom Garvin - piano; John Giannelli - bass; Paul Kreibich- drums.

Tom Garvin is best known as a first-call accompanist for singers, but he is at his most creative leading a trio. A melodic and inventive player, Garvin favors long-lined solos--he often continues a thread over several choruses. He likes to interrupt himself suddenly with a seemingly unrelated aside before continuing his thread. He builds tension by lagging behind the beat, sometimes holding onto his notes "too long," sometimes going several bars without catching up. His ideas are fresh and unpredictable, and swing (the continually evolving variety) is never a problem. Much of his repertoire comes from the Bill Evans book. He treated "Like Someone in Love" as a loping, understated tango, and instead of lapsing into a comfortable 4/4 he stayed with the tango for blowing. "Nardis" recalled the open feel of the Evans' version with Garvin carrying on for some steamy choruses. Garvin told a number of stories during the most intense tune of the evening, the ballad "Never Let Me Go."

Jazz Compass: Joe La Barbera, Larry Koonse, Clay Jenkins, Tom Warrington, August 27, 2001

Joe La Barbera - drums; Larry Koonse- guitar; Clay Jenkins - trumpet; Tom Warrington - bass; Bob Sheppard - tenor, soprano; Alan Pasqua, David Roitstein - piano; Kendall Kay - drums.

Independent musicians putting out their own CD's almost never recoup their investments. After a few dozen copies are sold to dedicated fans, their main value is as calling cards. Musicians demonstrate their legitimacy by presenting them to booking agents and club owners. The missing step, promotion, remains a problem area for most musicians. Four of the most respected local musicians recently founded their own record label, Jazz Compass, and launched it with a mini jazz festival. By playing musical chairs each musician recreated the band from his CD, usually with most of or all the original players.

Larry Koonse led off with a stark "Angeles Crest." Pianist Larry Roitstein introduced "Tresteza," a quiet piece by him that featured a piano - guitar conversation. "Leisureman Blues" was written by Scott Colley, bassist on the CD. Reminiscent of Jim Hall's "Careful", the piece evolved from staccato accents into a straightahead medium blues.

Trumpeter Clay Jenkins now lives in Rochester for his teaching gig at Eastman, but he still stays in touch with his homies. A Jenkins solo sometimes goes like this: start a line; interrupt it; go back to the beginning of the line and play it differently; interrupt again. At times he'll drop out for eight bars or so. He plays without vibrato, and he is hot. "In Fine Line" had three simultaneous melody lines with several rhythms going around in the background and some hip bass lines that came and went. Joe La Barbera held the piece together (Actually he carried it.) and finished with a long solo over a piano ostinato.

Tom Warrington led a trio (guitar-bass-drums) with a classic sound. Warrington on bass took the melody lead on the bright/sad waltz "Corduroy Road." A staccato "Very Early" by Bill Evans included a Koonse trademark chorus, a fast series of chords that sliced through theme and variations on a rhythmic motif.

If Warrington represented the "West" point of the Compass Joe La Barbera was "East" with his New York energy quintet. La Barbera opened Freddie Hubbard's "On the Q.T." (a tune that would be a standard if more bands could play it) with a blistering drum solo to set the mood. Alan Pasqua introduced "Kind of Bill," a La Barbera tune dedicated to Bill Evans with some Evans-like passages. Mostly a quiet ballad in the spirit of "I Do It for Your Love," Sheppard (on soprano) heated up his chorus in contrast. La Barbera's "Message to Art" (Blakey) recalled the Bobby Timmons era Jazz Messengers with that hard blues sound and ensemble riffing behind Pasqua. "East Broadway Rundown" by Sonny Rollins got a freer treatment with Jenkins, Sheppard, and Pasqua all taking it to the next level.

Jazz Compass site: http://www.jazzcompass.com
Joe La Barbera Interview at AAJ

Avishai Cohen & The International Vamp Band, August 30, 2001

Avishai Cohen - acoustic piano, electric bass; Diego Urcola - trumpet; Avi Lebovich - trombone, flute; Yosvany Terry - alto, shekere; Yagil Baras - acoustic bass; Antonio Sanchez - drums.

Avishai Cohen formed the International Vamp Band last year to fuse Afro-Cuban jazz with traditional Middle Eastern music. So far Cuban predominates, but the music sounds like it's in its early stages and will likely evolve into more of an Eastern sound. Of the six players half are from Israel with the others from Latin America. The Israelis seem to understand Cuban music more than the Latins get Middle Eastern.

The tunes were mostly basic vamps without much melodic interest that continued while the horn players and Cohen noodled over them. One tune grew out of a Yiddish folk song (The audience sang along in English.) while another was a Venezuelan Joropo. The others felt like Montunos.

Cohen's primary instrument is acoustic bass, but apparently he feels he can lead the band more effectively from the piano, and of course piano is a better solo instrument. The horns mainly stayed with the program, occasionally carrying on call and response with the rhythm. At one point they launched into a four-voice simultaneous improv, the most jazzical moment of the concert.